Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

After a two week break of men’s night league fixtures, action got back underway in Canada Life International League Division One, with someone forgetting to tell the weather man it was June and not November.

League leaders Marown A made the short trip along the A1 out to Peel to take on their A Team on a windy evening across the island. With a five point lead the Crosby men were looking to extend their advantage at the top, however the men from the Sunset City had other ideas, as they inflicted a first league defeat of the season on their opponents 7-3. For the home team Peter Greenlees and Dave ‘Barney’ Kelly were the best winners as they won 21-10, with these two wins helping sealing the aggregate on chalks (146-134). Tommy McMeiken beat former teammate Tom Kelly 21-16, George Gadsby won 21-17 against Matthew Keggen, whilst Pip Pemberton caused the biggest upset of the night as he prevailed 21-18 against Manx Champion Neil Withers. For the visitors Peter Jones and Dean Kipling won 21-13 against David Proctor and Gary Smith respectively, with Marown captain Paul Dunn picking up their third win as he beat Stevie Kelly 21-15.

Taking full advantage of Marown’s defeat were South Ramsey A, who made the short journey across Ramsey to take on North Ramsey A at Mooragh Park, with the fixture being notoriously tough for visiting teams as proven by the Mooragh men going through the 2023 undefeated on games. The South men came away with a stunning 1-9 victory to jump ahead of Marown A by a point to hit top spot for the first time this season. Jordan Cain led the way with a 21-8 win over Steven Waters, with Stefan Kelly winning 21-9 against Gary Merrill. James Teare put in the performance of the night to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Rob Monk 21-10. Having to battle for their wins were David Bradford who prevailed 21-19 against Allan Callow, whilst Alan Moore won to the same score against Dave Moncaster, with the former trailing 18-8, a change in tactics saw Moore run out with a stunning 21-19 victory. Sparing the whitewash was Steve Walmsley who trailed 2-9 against Peter Collister, with the former going on to win 21-18.

Elsewhere Marown B had a solid 8-2 win at home to Port St Mary A, Douglas A beat Castletown A 7-3 at the Villa, whilst Onchan A came away from Crosby with a 1-9 victory over Marown C on Tuesday evening.

In Division Two Peel B stayed top with a 4-6 away win over Finch Hill A, whilst second placed South Ramsey B closed the gap to six points following a 10-0 whitewash over North Ramsey B. Ballaugh A occupy third place, however they lost ground on South Ramsey B as they won 3-7 away to Onchan B. Port Erin A were just three chalks off a maximum win as they won 9-1 at home to Noble’s A, whilst Castletown B continue their recovery from a poor start to the season as they won 6-4 at home to Douglas B.

In Division Three Noble’s B, D and C lead the way – in that order with the B Team defeating South Ramsey C 7-3. Noble’s D jumped ahead of their C Team as they won 9-1 at home to Onchan C, whilst the C Team suffered a 7-3 defeat away to Peel C. Elsewhere Port St Mary B won 8-2 at Breagle Glen against Marown D, whilst Ballaugh B came away with an 8-2 win over South Ramsey D.

In Division Four Ballaugh C look to be running away with the title as they extended their lead at the top to 17 points following a 9-1 home win over Douglas D, with new boys North Ramsey C winning 7-3 at home to Peel D, whilst Finch Hill B winning 7-3 at home to Noble’s E.

Rayner Shield

All four ties of the quarter finals of the Plumbmaster sponsored Rayner Shield took place on Wednesday evening with Castletown A seeing off Onchan C 8-0 at the Crofts. Marown C progressed to the semi-finals for a second consecutive year as they beat Peel C 6-2 at Crosby. Favourites South Ramsey A progressed thanks to a 5-3 home win in a tough game against Onchan A. In a somewhat bizarre event North Ramsey A thought they had gone into the draw for the semi-finals with a 5-3 win (chalks 137-115) at home to an under strength Marown B only to discover that a player they had called upon to help out had already featured for another team in an earlier round of the competition. This swung the result in favour of Marown B, with the score 4-4 on games chalks became the deciding factor, as the 21-10 home win became a 0-21 result for the vistors to win by 10 chalks (116-126).

Rayner Plate

In the Plumbmaster Rayner Plate the highest ranked team Peel A easily overcame a 25 chalk deficit away to Noble’s A as they won all eight games to win by 56 chalks (127-183). Finch Hill A made light work of Port St Mary B as they won 7-1 to overturn a 40 chalk deficit at home to win by 16 chalks (195-179). Ballaugh B and Onchan B started off the same handicap, however home advantage paid off for the Ballaugh men as despite drawing 4-4 on games they won by nine chalks (182-173). The final fixture was played the following evening in much harsher conditions, following heavy rain throughout the day and during the match as the visitors South Ramsey C had just a five chalk lead against Marown D, however the Ramsey men progressed into the next round thanks to a 21 chalk victory (182-203) with the games tied 4-4 there was little to choose between the two teams.